AL Wild Card There for the Taking

Has anyone really looked at this? I know the last four games have been disappointing to put it mildly but, the O's are not out of it by any stretch of the imagination. Looking at the last ten games, no one is taking charge of the race for the AL East or the Wild Card. Boston, Tampa Bay and the O's are all 4-6. The A's are 5-5. Cleveland is 3-7. The only hot team is Texas at 8-2 and the only other teams with a winning record are KC and NY at 6-4. If you look back over the season, all the teams in the race have been hot and cold. This has been a very weird year, remember the Blue Jay's hot streak? None of these teams have played with any consistency so it is there for the taking. For the O's, of course, with Oakland and Tampa Bay on the horizon, the time to get hot is right now.

The AL East is up for grabs as well. In August, the O's are 6-7, Boston is 7-8 while the Rays were 2-7 until winning their last three and NY is 7-7, the only AL East contender without a losing record.

Yes, a post-season berth is up for grabs for any of these teams. The question is who wants it.

Screw the wild card. I'm still picking the O's for the division. They have both the talent and the youth down the stretch. Both Boston and Tampa are vulnerable. If the O's can't beat those two in the next month, they don't deserve the post-season.

Anyone that has seen me post here knows i'm not a pessimist, but the way they've played over the past few weeks has been less than inspiring.
They should have swept in both SF and Arizona. If they had, they would have probably been in 2nd. Instead, the Yankees are breathing down their necks for 3rd.

Anyone that has seen me post here knows i'm not a pessimist, but the way they've played over the past few weeks has been less than inspiring. They should have swept in both SF and Arizona. If they had, they would have probably been in 2nd. Instead, the Yankees are breathing down their necks for 3rd.

You have obviously not watched many games at AT&T or Chase Field. Both the Giants and Dbacks have been murder at home historically. Luckily, The Birds caught the Giants having an off year at home while the Snakes have been red hot at their friendly confines. If you looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year, a realist would have been happy to gain a split in the six games and even a .500 road trip would be OK which the O's got. What is so painful is the way the O's lost those three games in Arizona.

"...the way they've played over the past few weeks has been less than inspiring." The same is true of all the teams in the AL East as the record clearly shows. They should have swept in both SF and Arizona. If they had, they would have probably been in 2n

Yankees won't catch us, once their mediocre offense comes back to reality they will start sucking again. We have much better talent than them right now and if it weren't for Johnson blowing saves and Buck's refusal to remove him from closer duties we would be in first right now. Now it looks like we will miss the playoffs. Pretty sad. Oh we'll, always next year.

They are in a horrible funk as a team right now and unless someone steps up they'll quickly find that their season is over. On the other hand, they are one hot streak away from being right back in it. The only thing that has been there all year is the defense. Individually, their offensive numbers are very good but they just can't seem to put it together as a team right now.

I also think Buck's decision making over the past week has cost them several games. I haven't given up but it's been very frustrating

The biggest difference between this year's team and 2012 is the pitching. Defensively, they're as good or better and they've certainly had enough offense despite some periods of slumping which happens to every team. This isn't the steroid era anymore and you can't expect to bulldoze your way into the playoffs by outscoring your pitching problems. It certainly isn't over by any means and they play a ton of games against the East but unless they figure out how to keep the ball in the yard and the bullpen returns to last year's level, I just don't see them making the playoffs. They'll come in at about 85-88 wins and miss out by 3-5 games.

They are in a horrible funk as a team right now and unless someone steps up they'll quickly find that their season is over. On the other hand, they are one hot streak away from being right back in it. The only thing that has been there all year is the defense. Individually, their offensive numbers are very good but they just can't seem to put it together as a team right now.

I also think Buck's decision making over the past week has cost them several games. I haven't given up but it's been very frustrating

Last year the breaks went our way and this year the opposite is happening. I believe you have to be lucky to win in sports above having talent. I'm not convinced that the talent is less than last year but things just haven't lined up for us this year. It's not over by any means but the breaks are going to have to start going our way.

You have obviously not watched many games at AT&T or Chase Field. Both the Giants and Dbacks have been murder at home historically. Luckily, The Birds caught the Giants having an off year at home while the Snakes have been red hot at their friendly confines. If you looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year, a realist would have been happy to gain a split in the six games and even a .500 road trip would be OK which the O's got. What is so painful is the way the O's lost those three games in Arizona.

"...the way they've played over the past few weeks has been less than inspiring." The same is true of all the teams in the AL East as the record clearly shows. They should have swept in both SF and Arizona. If they had, they would have probably been in 2n

LOL...I just made a comment a few days ago about going to see the O's in SF.

Arizona has been good this year at home - but hardly the best. It doesn't change the fact that they blew 3 games where they had the lead.

SF is only .500 at home this year.

"Historically" only matters for the year you're playing in. It's like saying that the O's are going to win the World Series this year because they went to the WS 6 times from the 60's to the early 80's. The O's are a very good team that aren't doing what it takes to get to the playoffs this year - such as holding leads, stringing together big innings (second half), and keeping mistakes to a minimum (second half). In the past few seasons, this team lit a fire even when they weren't in contention.This year, they seem flat. Watch a team play without orange-colored glasses, it helps to give perspective.

Last year the breaks went our way and this year the opposite is happening. I believe you have to be lucky to win in sports above having talent. I'm not convinced that the talent is less than last year but things just haven't lined up for us this year. It's not over by any means but the breaks are going to have to start going our way.

I actually think in terms of talent this year's team is better but they have been in a serious funk for most of the second half.

My comment was that a .500 record on that road trip would have been considered successful if you looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year. Again, the competition is struggling too. Rays, Yankees, Oakland, KC all won last night;all lost today. No one seems to want it.

My comment was that a .500 record on that road trip would have been considered successful if you looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year. Again, the competition is struggling too. Rays, Yankees, Oakland, KC all won last night;all lost today. No one seems to want it.

Anyway, one other point about history, a subject near and dear to me being a nascent historian, history does matter when talking about a place especially. If a place holds a particularly home field advantage to the home team, one can infer it has unique characteristics that make it so. For instance, the Giants have tailored the makeup of their team to fit the ballpark. Granted though if the team is playing poorly, you can throw the home field advantage out the window.

The O's have the same record at 67-56 and are in 3rd place 5 games out just like last year. Like last year it'll probably take 93 wins to get in so we're looking at needing a 26-13 finish. Buck's teams usually finish strong but they'd better get started right now.